Russia's Defence Minister blamed the sinking of a derelict nuclear submarine on a national trait of carelessness and ordered a temporary halt Sunday to the towing of decommissioned subs.
The announcement raised the prospect of further delays in efforts to dispose of more than 100 rotting ships and their reactors, which have been a concern to environmentalists.
The K-159 submarine sank Saturday in the Barents Sea as it was being towed to an Arctic scrapyard where its reactors were to be removed and dismantled. Nine of the 10 sailors aboard died.
"There were definitely elements of this frivolous Russian reliance on chance, that everything will work out," Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said from a ship monitoring search operations.
http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030831.wruss831/BNStory/International/http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/
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